Minor Hotels, whose global brands include Anantara, Avani, Oaks, Tivoli, Elewana Collection, and NH Hotel Group, is reacting to the unfolding coronavirus pandemic in destinations all over the world.
In Thailand, hotels in Bangkok are beginning to close down in line with the closure of restaurants and bars in metropolitan Bangkok under the requirements set out by the city authorities. Provincial hotels are also being prepared to close. These actions are designed to help stop the spread of the virus and to safeguard the health of guests and staff, while simultaneously reducing operating costs. Such short-term measures are necessary to preserve the long-term sustainability of the business.
In Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean, all properties remain in operation, with the exception of Anantara Desaru in Malaysia, which has been closed in line with government directives. In Sri Lanka, the Anantara Kalutara and Avani Kalutara have been temporarily consolidated into one single operation in order to reduce costs.
In Australia and New Zealand, all hotels are currently still in operation.
In the Middle East, all of the Group’s hotels are under management contracts. Minor Hotels is therefore working in close cooperation with property owners to craft country-specific responses to the situations on the ground in each location. Government relief funds have been granted in key countries.
Most hotels in Africa remain in operation, but Minor Hotels continues to carefully observe the evolution of the virus situation and the local government measures.
Finally, in Europe and Latin America, the short-term objective has been to reduce costs and preserve liquidity in what has rapidly become a very difficult environment. To achieve this, the strategy has been to close the maximum number of hotels because demand is insufficient to sustain operations. In Spain, a new rule within the State of Emergency law stipulates the closure of all hotels. In Italy and Spain, Minor Hotels has closed all its hotels with the exception of six properties which have been repurposed to support hospitals and to host health personnel. In Germany, Benelux and Latin America, NH Hotel Group is implementing the same strategy, which will continue in the coming days as decisions are taken to close hotels based on activity, occupancy criteria, and the government policies.